Goodbye, friend
by Pharaoh-chan
Summary: Keroro and his platoon are summoned back to Keron for their failures, but before they leave, they're confronted by the Pekoponians they befriended.


Night fell over the city, everything as quiet as a city might allow. Silhouettes of backlit buildings could be seen against the dark violet horizon. All was as to be expected. Nothing out of place. Except for _them_, of course, but that was nothing new. They were certainly not ordinary though, rather a part of daily life now, and not just for anyone, but for a family, one chosen out of the millions of families they could have encountered.

Their living arrangements were hysterically odd. They were supposed to conquer this planet and its' denizens. They had been reduced to nothing more than pets who carried out chores and lived under supervision like children. But as time went on, not even they could blame the Pekoponians for what had happened. They had plenty of opportunities to do what they came here for. They had the technology. They were dysfunctional, sure, but they could have done it.

And now for their wasted time, their sidetracked pleasures, and their failures, they would pay the price. There were no more excuses or explanations to be had. There was no more borrowed time. Each beginning had an ending, and theirs ended quite some time ago.

With heavy hearts, they travelled up to the hilltop, with what little belongings they were able to take. In the end, it wouldn't matter. He had left his precious Gundam collection behind, to be erased, along with the memories of the ones they had spent so much time with. Tears welled in his eyes at the notion, and even the Corporal couldn't find it in him to further humiliate his leader and friend. This was their burden to bear as a platoon, together.

"So this is it." Came his soft words as they stood at the top, all five together and standing in a circle.

"M-mister Sergeant…please don't cry…" the Tadpole begged, welling up himself.

"We…we did our best, soldier." the Corporal crossed his arms, lying through his teeth. They hadn't done their best at conquering, their plans had always backfired, and their leader was always distracted. Even so, he could not stand there and take zero responsibility. In truth, they really had not tried.

"There is nothing dishonorable about keeping peace here, we had no reasons to fight them." Dororo affirmed.

"Ku ku…it was still pretty fun to cause the chaos that we did though." the mad scientist of the group snickered.

"Y-you guys…"

"SARGE!"

And suddenly their intimate meeting was interrupted. The boy ran as fast as he could, clambering to the top of the hill. All eyes were on him as he made it to the top, the other Pekoponians lagging not too far behind.

"F-fuyuki…" Keroro choked out, quickly wiping at his eyes. "W-what are you doing here, buddy…?"

"S-sarge…I…what's going on…? We've been looking all over for you guys…you just disappeared…and the base…your base is entirely gone!" The boy sat on his knees, looking confused, but overjoyed that he had found them. "Are you having another health check…?"

The alien frogs exchanged heavy glances, Keroro stumbling for a response.

"I…n-no, buddy, we're…ah. We're heading out. Home."

"Keron's summoned us." Giroro added, his eyes drifting to the boy's sister who had finally caught up, and he quickly looked away.

"S-summoned you? I don't understand…a-are you coming back…?" Fuyuki's brow knitted, and Keroro could barely answer.

"No, we're not coming back. Ku. We're leaving your planet because we failed to conquer it." Kululu replied.

"Wait, you're actually leaving and never coming back?" Natsumi quickly cut off anything more that might have been said. "Look, you frogs were nothing but trouble, but how can you just leave us without even a goodbye?"

Giroro turned away, "It was better this way. You wouldn't have remembered any of this anyway."

"I was going to erase your memories, ku. Aren't we considerate?~"

"No, you're not being considerate at all and you know it! Don't you know that we'll still feel you guys when you're not here, when you're not a part of our lives? It's because we'll still remember you deep down, even if we can't place a name with a face! It's because we're connected! We're a family!" Fuyuki was nearly crying as he tugged Keroro into his lap. "P-please, Sarge…y-you're my best friend…"

"Oh Fuyuki…" Momoka wiped at her teary face, her butler Paul handing her a handkerchief. "Tamama, you should know better too…"

"We didn't wanna make anybody sad…" the young Tadpole looked down guiltily before reaching up to her.

"Like it or not, Fuyuki's right, you stupid frogs are still part of our lives no matter what kind of dumb erasing machine you have." Natsumi reached out, prodding Giroro in the side to stress her point. "So it's pointless to use it on us." She smirked at him as he turned, and try as he might, he couldn't resist her, especially as stubborn as she was.

"Sarge, let us help you…what do you have to do to make them let you stay here…?"

"There's nothing we can do except what we were originally charged with." Dororo shrugged, "Which goes against my personal beliefs anyway."

"Take over the Earth…?" Koyuki chimed in.

"The way _they_ want us to. I am against unnecessary and unlawful acts of violence."

They all fell silent for a moment, and after a few painfully long moments, Fuyuki spoke up quietly. "Sarge, I don't know how we'll manage but…do it. Take over."

"W-wha…?"

"Uh, what?"

"Fuyuki?"

"No, no, just hear me out…" the boy picked Keroro up from his lap, setting him onto the grass in front of him. "If it weren't for meeting us…you would have done it already. O-or at least had a better chance. I think. The point is…humans…er, Pekoponians already fight as it is. Over everything. We fight over land, over resources, we can't respect one another or our opinions, and we're as naïve as they come when it involves the supernatural or extraterrestrials. So…what I'm saying is…I don't think it matters if you conquer us now because…we'd still be in the same boat. Except we'd be ruled over by little alien frogs. And that would be kind of cool, actually."

"Fuyuki…I…-"

"And besides, Sarge…just look at how much you've taught us! Just look at how much we've been able to take away from each other. What if this might actually be an okay thing after all? What if we-"

Keroro pressed his hands against Fuyuki's, making him trail off. The two locked eyes for a moment, and Keroro smiled sadly.

"Fuyuki. This…this isn't your fault. Or Natsumi's. It's probably at least 73% my fault. But the rest is because…well, even if we hadn't met you guys, we'd still be in the same boat too."

"Sarge…"

"It's true. We got distracted. I did for sure. You Pekoponians showed us that you're not just what we learned about back on Keron. You've got something no other race in the universe does."

"Heart?"

"Courage?"

"Actually, I was going to say Gundam, but those other things work too. Anyway…Fuyuki. It's not because of you that we failed. It's because of you that we found so much more than a planet to conquer."

"Then why did you give us such a hard time? Does anyone remember the plants all over the city that ate everything in sight? And then the time you used all of our resources to make a tiny Earth and you nearly destroyed the original?" Natsumi pointed out, more than equipped with painful memories.

"Those weren't so bad! Okay, okay, so we weren't completely innocent, but you've got to admit it was fun! Fuyuki here is looking at the glass half-full. We gave you guys a good time, huh? A-and I always got your toilet scrubbed really shiny. And- and-"

Saburo chuckled slightly, laying back against the hill and looking up at the stars. "You could have built machines that didn't break or malfunction, you know. You could have taken over easy."

"I know, but where would the fun be in that? Ku ku ku! And besides, we would have been called back in half the time. Is that what you wanted?~"

"Is that what _you_ wanted?" Saburo smirked at the yellow Keronian playfully.

"Y-you guys!" Tamama cried from Momoka's arms, pointing up. "I think we're out of time…-"

"The time of departure is here." Dororo gazed up at his partner. "I will indeed miss our time together, Koyuki."

"Oh D…" Her ninja formalities aside, she scooped the pale frog into her arms and nuzzled him. "You take care of yourself."

"Heh…you too." He hugged her back.

"Y-you guys are really leaving, then…?" Natsumi, even despite as short-tempered as she was, had a certain softness in her voice now.

"Er…uh…yeah." Giroro stammered out, mentally cursing his terrible composure and lack of strength, especially now!

"Hm…Giroro…I-I'll miss you. Every time I eat sweet potatoes…" She trailed off, setting a hand onto his head. His entire body under his hat grew heated, and he fought to keep his blushing down.

"N-natsumi…I….I-" _Just say it, you idiot!_

"Oh Natsumi!" Keroro cried, launching onto her, abruptly causing her to fall backward and slide down the hilltop, thus ruining the last chance that he had to be sentimental. A silent tear was shed.

"G-get off of me!" She cried, prying him from her face, and he chuckled nervously.

"I know we were sworn enemies, Natsumi, but despite everything, I will remember the good times we had. Oh, do you remember those times? When you broke the head off of my collectible Gundam, and when you bounced my head like a basketball…-"

"Yes, I will hold those memories especially close to my heart. Now." She set him down, crossing her arms, "Just…just go say goodbye to my brother…"

"Hm?~" Aki gazed down at the curry-obsessed alien before her, and she smiled. "Come to say goodbye?~"

"I just wanted to say that it would have never worked out between us. You broke my favorite mech. But I'll always cherish those times you had in the shower, ku ku ku!~"

"Aww- wait…what?"

"Sarge…" the boy held out his arms, to which the alien accepted. "I-I wish you didn't have to-"

"Hey. No crying, okay…? Y-you'll make me cry, and then Mois will cry, and then Tamama will become volatile and it'll just be this really horrible domino effect." Fuyuki laughed slightly as they hugged.

"See? That's what I want. Don't cry because of me, Fuyuki…a-and I want you…to have my Gundam collection."

"A-aw Sarge, no…take it with you…"

"I-I can't, buddy. S-so please. Take care of it for me…?"

"I…o-okay, I'll take good care of it."

"I-I uh…I love you, buddy. Y-you…you're gonna be somethin' real special. You're gonna change this world, Fuyuki."

"Aw Sarge…I…I'll miss you so much, e-everything's going to be okay, right? T-they won't hurt you, will they...?"

"Heh…nah…w-we'll be just fine, Fuyuki. Don't worry about us. We're soldiers, remember…?"

Despite everything, the tears fell and the lights from above signaled they had to separate.

A crying Tamama ran back to his platoon, and the Pekoponians moved away, both groups reluctant to leave one another's company. They could only wave as the lights became brighter and brighter, the mother ship low in the sky, and they had no choice but to retreat.

The alien frogs were pulled upward, ascending into the light, and while they each had silently come to accept their ultimate fate, Keroro still shed tears. He wouldn't have given up this experience for anything. And he knew his platoon felt the same. But he would never forgive himself for what was to come, their punishment. They had failed, and failure on Keron, was punishable by death.

"Oh Fuyuki…my friend. Goodbye."


End file.
